1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to a connection construction for tubular members for connecting an inserting side tubular member with a receiving side tubular member having a deformable flexible portion by fitting or inserting the inserting side tubular member into the receiving side tubular member.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Wires extending from a connector in a prior art wiring harness often are protected in a corrugate tube. The corrugate tube typically is made of resin or some other material that is relatively difficult to deform. Thus the configuration of the wires can be maintained substantially in a desired state. However, the wires spread in the vicinity of the connector, and therefore the corrugate tube having a specified fixed diameter cannot protect the wires in this spread portion of the wire bundle.
In view of the above, the prior art includes a rubber boot 3 mounted between the connector 1 and the corrugate tube 2 as shown in FIG. 6. The prior art rubber boot 3 includes a connector connection portion 7 whose width increases toward its open end, a bellows-like flexible portion 4, and a fitting end portion 5 with a longitudinally extending slit 6. The wires W extending from the connector 1 are protected by the connector connection portion 7, and the leading end of the corrugate tube 2 is fitted into the fitting end portion 5. A tape T then is wound around the fitting end portion 5. The tape T causes the slit 6 to narrow and urges the fitting end portion 5 against the outer surface of the corrugate tube 2. In this way, the rubber boot 3 and the corrugate tube 2 are connected.
The leading end of the corrugate tube 2 is fitted into the fitting end portion 5 during the connection of the rubber boot 3 and the corrugate tube 2. However, the leading end of the corrugate tube 2 is concealed by the fitting end portion 5 of the rubber boot 3 and the amount of insertion cannot be confirmed visually. Thus the leading end of the corrugate tube 2 may pass beyond the fitting end portion 5 and may enter the flexible portion 4 as shown in FIG. 7.
If the rubber boot 3 and the corrugate tube 2 are connected in this state, a smooth deformation of the flexible portion 4 may be hindered by the difficulty of the corrugate tube 2 to be deformed. Such a deformation often is necessary to arrange and align the wiring harness while bending the wires W at the flexible portion 4.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to provided a connection construction, which ensures a smooth deformation of a deformable portion of the connection construction.